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Inside the Minds – Published by Aspatore BooksThe Essence of the CEO Position: Leading by ExampleGroupware Technology specializes in the design, procurement, testing, andintegration of information technology (IT) solutions. Supported by arelentless dedication to service, we are technology experts focused onsolving strategic business problems and providing insight and leadership toour customers and the industry.In my role as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of GroupwareTechnology, I am tasked with setting the vision for the company—who wewant to be and what we need to do to be successful in the marketplace.This includes developing and communicating our objectives, coupled with aset of clear, attainable, and measurable goals, and setting the standards bywhich we operate. I’ve learned these responsibilities are a constant; in otherwords, because the front line is focused on the day-to-day operations, aCEO cannot just lay out the vision, objectives, goals, and standards andexpect the team to follow suit. The CEO has to live them and be a constantreminder of why these are important to the company. The essence of thisrole is to lead by example.Another important responsibility is creating an environment where there isnot only the opportunity for immediate success, but also one in whichconsistent success becomes the standard. The common term used is“corporate culture,” but I see it as more than this. Having been in thecorporate structure of the technical industry for the better part of mycareer, I have observed the failings of a corporate culture conceived anddeveloped by management and then mandated to the front line. Individualsrespond much more positively when they can contribute to the process ofdeveloping the culture. For example, when determining the company’svalues, I sought input from our team. Together, we establishedGroupware’s core values of customer service, excellence, fun, and givingback.Being the Face of the CompanyAs president and CEO of the company, the greatest evolution has beencoming to the true understanding that I am the face of the company. As such,one of the understated responsibilities in leading a company is

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Recognizing Leadership Opportunities in Unlikely Places – by Mike Thompsonunderstanding how you are perceived by the industry at large, your peers,and your team.Regardless of what kind of day I’m having, I am fully aware of how myactions can and do affect the energy in the office. My day-to-day attitude ison constant display, and I am keenly aware of my effect on the rest of theteam. The successes we have experienced have allowed the company toparticipate in more lucrative opportunities. However, being recognized asan industry expert and a thought leader comes with a price—time.I travel often, spending time with customers, vendors, and manufacturers.But when I return to the office, I make it a point to visit with the team, askthem how things are progressing, and, when needed, roll up my sleeves andjump in on whatever task is at hand. Two of the most difficult things tolearn are trust and patience—trusting the team to perform the tasks, andpatience while allowing them to learn at their pace. These two aspects areimportant because once the individuals have internalized the problem-solving process, they will deliver greater results and greater returns, both inprofitability and in customer satisfaction.Business Growth and the Evolution of Individual RolesAs the business has grown, my responsibilities and obligations have,naturally, also evolved. The demand for my time is now stretched withrunning the business and sitting on several industry advisory councils andcommunity boards. The balance here is to remain true to the purpose of thecouncils, genuinely contribute on their behalf, and avoid the mindset ofmining opportunities for your company.To attract and retain the best and the brightest, especially in the highlycompetitive industry of technology, you need to deliver on both theperceived and the promised benefits. Having benefited from the rigors of ahigher education myself, I found when one is building a strong team, oneshould encourage the further education and training of all who wish toelevate their careers. An example of this is the recent completion of anexecutive business degree by our vice president of operations. Our programreimburses team members who complete their designated educational goals.

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Inside the Minds – Published by Aspatore BooksAlso, all of the studies we have seen indicate those in management who canimprove their presentation skills stand a better chance of advancing theircareers. To this end, we contracted a professional speaker coach who usesrelevant, real-world business topics as part of the coaching. Because ourbusiness is on a highly technical level, our engineers often accompany oursales team. We’ve found this approach delivers more closed salesopportunities. We have now included several of our top engineers in thespeaker coaching program with positive results. Again, the employee isgiven the opportunity to enhance the breadth of their experiences. Mypersonal belief is simple: a company cannot grow if the leadership teamdoes not grow as individuals. It is my responsibility to mentor and motivatetheir growth and to continue to challenge myself to grow, as well.Taking Care of the TeamLike many other companies, we offer our team quarterly bonuses forachieving specific goals. But, as previously mentioned, fun is one of ourcore values, and this goes beyond the requisite fun at company gatherings.All employees get to participate in and benefit from the success of thecompany. They do so by achieving set goals. Benefits include an annual tripto a desired resort location, which, when coupled with other goals, allowsthem the opportunity to also bring their families. The health of our team isimportant to the health of our company and ultimately our success. To thisend, we provide an aggressive benefits plan, which includes acomprehensive health plan, a 401(k) plan, a 401(k) matching and profit-sharing plan, and gym membership reimbursement.The Power of ListeningClear communication is the cornerstone of any successful organization, andI, along with senior management, promote an open-door policy to all. Thetime spent listening to our team always produces positive—and at timeseven innovative—results.Along with an open-door policy, we’ve structured the organization tofacilitate opportunities for all to actively engage in determining the directionof the company. We accomplish this through weekly manager meetings,

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Recognizing Leadership Opportunities in Unlikely Places – by Mike Thompsonhaving senior management walk the halls actively asking questions, andengaging fully in the exchange of ideas, concerns, and suggestions broughtforth by team members. As a company, we assemble for an annual businessmeeting over a two-day period, where the objectives and goals are deliveredto all at the same time. We then follow up on the status of the statedobjectives and goals at our quarterly all-hands meetings.Since we have offices in several locations around the western United States,as well as sales personnel out in the field, we have invested in videoconferencing for the regional offices and those in the field. This allowseveryone the opportunity to be briefed on the company’s status in real time.We’ve found this to be instrumental in particular for the field personnelbecause they can use the most current information when dealing with theircustomers, which, again, can lead to closing a sale or responding to aconcern.The Power of GivingOf the four core values at Groupware, we are proudest of the value ofgiving back. Being a member of the Campbell, California, businesscommunity affords us a safe and friendly environment in which to conductour business. In my personal life, I’ve always believed charity starts athome; I believe it holds true in business life, as well. Over the years, we’veraised funds for organizations in the Silicon Valley community that care forthose less fortunate. Some of the activities we’ve been involved with includefund-raising events, monetary contributions, and gathering team membersto volunteer their most precious asset—time. Because we are in thetechnology business, we have donated computer products on severaloccasions to help organizations become more efficient, and the donationsallow them to apply more of the funds to their cause, rather than to theoperation of the charity.Regarding our commitment to the environment, I recognize beingconscientious of not only our global environment, but also our immediateenvironment, is a reflection of our values. So I initiated a goal to become a“green business,” which we achieved in 2008 and for which we wererecognized by the county of Santa Clara, California. Some may see this asself-serving and perhaps a nice public relations feather in our cap, but I

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Inside the Minds – Published by Aspatore Booksbelieve it’s having a positive impact on the team and all those who enter ourcorporate offices.In recent years the business world has been slowly awakening to theadvantages of being environmentally friendly. The rising costs ofmaintaining the basic business operations have led to the development ofgreen data centers, which are major consumers of power and generators ofheat. Having experienced the “sticker shock” of our power bill, I beganconverting our data center into a greener data center. And although theinitial investment seemed high, the long-term financial benefits more thanjustified the expense. Not only did we reduce our overall energy bill, but wealso began offering sustainability solutions through architecting future datacenters and transforming them into green data centers. We now have thecapability to demonstrate an actual return on investment to our end-users,not only financially for them, but also for their environments. These actionsclearly illustrate “the power is in the giving.”Executing at the Moment of TruthDuring my time as an executive vice president, the technology industry hada period in its history many would like to forget: the “dot-com implosion,”“dot-bomb,” “www.what were we thinking?” The Internet hit the businessworld with a force, and suddenly everyone rushed to own an e-commercebusiness. Millions of dollars changed hands; hip new offices sprung upwhere none had existed; and the promise of a new industry intoxicated theSilicon Valley and beyond. Then it all came crashing down like a house ofcards, and no one escaped the wreck, including me. My employer at thetime charged me with managing a severe reduction in force, which includedmany employees with whom I had built relationships. Balancing myprofessional obligations with my personal feelings proved to be a majorchallenge, but I managed through and carried the lessons learned with meinto my present position.Just when you think you’ve been through the worst, something invariablysurfaces. The recent bubble-burst, which sent the economy into a tailspin,looked to be daunting indeed. However, what I learned from my previousendeavors prepared me to handle the crisis. I knew the best way to preparefor any possible threat to the company’s future would be to gather a strong

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Recognizing Leadership Opportunities in Unlikely Places – by Mike Thompsonteam who had been through similar experiences and who understood theimportance of staying focused on the customer. Rather than enactingfinancial cutbacks, we invested in a proof-of-concept lab, honed ouroperation expenditures, hired more team members to strengthen our bench,and offered more services. Though we had lower revenue on the front endof the crisis, we never lost a customer and, in fact, gained market share. Icall this executing at the moment of truth.The Question and Quest for InnovationI’ve always found the question of being innovative peculiar and, at times,even funny because it’s not as if one has the time to just sit around andthink of ways to be innovative. For me, innovation happens while in theprocess of working on a solution to an issue. Once I find a viable solution,it seems to take on the perception of an innovation.For example, a few years ago, I began to take note of the industry evolutionfrom the customer’s point of view to the manufacturer’s. After I shared myideas with senior management, the team decided to build out a first-classdata center coupled with a proof-of-concept lab. This would allowcustomers the opportunity to come to the lab and test the solution ourengineers designed. The strategic advantage for the customer is in lettingthem have the experience of running the solution before making theinvestment. Now, in and of itself, this is certainly not an earth-shatteringinnovation, but it is a practical one, which is in keeping with our core valueof customer service excellence. A side benefit from this innovation camefrom the manufacturers, who now want to bring their latest technology intothe lab for our customers to experience.From a branding standpoint, the Groupware Technology lab is nowknown as the place to visit if you want to gain familiarity with the mostup-to-date technology. I once read that when a scientist actually discoverssomething or comes upon some revolutionary breakthrough, “Eureka, I’vefound it!” is not exactly the reaction. It actually falls more along the linesof, “Huh, that’s funny.” I believe this to be the case with many innovationsand discoveries.

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Inside the Minds – Published by Aspatore BooksAdvice for Other Leaders of Today and TomorrowThe most important lesson I’ve learned throughout my business career isyou can never know it all, and you certainly don’t have the time to invest intrying. Otherwise, you’ll spend your life learning and never executing. Andexecuting is where action delivers results.As for advice I would share with others, I’d have to share the advice of themany other successful leaders who came before me, from a myriad ofbackgrounds—develop an excellent plan with a clear objective andachievable goals, and then surround yourself with a highly talented teamand let them execute the plan.In today’s business world and in the foreseeable future, there are and will behundreds of books to guide you through your career, offering “the” steps tosuccess or “the” habits of the successful. I’ve found they can serve as aguide, but are by no means a definitive blueprint. As a leader, you are thedecision-maker. You can give your best effort in the process, but one nevertruly knows whether any decision is the correct one until the impact of thedecision is known. To this I can add only, make a decision based on thebest information available, but by all means, make the decision. Your teamis waiting for your leadership. Finally—and I learned this well into myposition as president and CEO of Groupware Technology—identify yourcompany’s core values, communicate them repeatedly to the team at everyopportunity, and then live them.As president and chief executive officer of Groupware Technology Inc., Mike Thompsonprovides the leadership and vision essential for propelling companywide success. His cross-functional skill set, innate business savvy, and real-world understanding enable him toprovide the creativity and strategy needed to build and grow a successful organization.With more than a decade of industry experience, Mr. Thompson spends much of his timemanaging all phases of the business process. Starting from the ground up, he has gainedextensive experience and an overall respect for all organizational platforms.Responsible for setting the vision, developing the strategy, and managing the execution ofcorporate initiatives and goals, Mr. Thompson is actively involved in managing and

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Recognizing Leadership Opportunities in Unlikely Places – by Mike Thompsondeveloping relationships and strategic alliances with vendors, partners, and end-users. Hehas been recognized for his work in improving operational efficiencies to enhance the end-user experience and overall satisfaction, and has proved his ability to increase profitablerevenues year over year.Recognized by the industry for his thought leadership, Mr. Thompson sits on severaladvisory boards. He is also active in helping fellow entrepreneurs who are interested in hisexpertise and experience. He has built the foundation for Groupware to continue itsunprecedented growth and success.Mr. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of SouthernCalifornia and an MBA, graduating with honors, from Regis University.

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www.Aspatore.comAspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters business, exclusively publishes C-Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, Partner) from the worldsmost respected companies and law firms. C-Level Business Intelligence™,as conceptualized and developed by Aspatore Books, provides professionalsof all levels with proven business intelligence from industry insiders—directand unfiltered insight from those who know it best—as opposed to third-party accounts offered by unknown authors and analysts. Aspatore Books iscommitted to publishing an innovative line of business and legal books,those which lay forth principles and offer insights that when employed, canhave a direct financial impact on the readers business objectives, whateverthey may be. In essence, Aspatore publishes critical tools for all businessprofessionals. Inside the MindsThe Inside the Minds series provides readers of all levels with proven legaland business intelligence from C-Level executives and lawyers (CEO, CFO,CTO, CMO, Partner) from the worlds most respected companies and lawfirms. Each chapter is comparable to a white paper or essay and is a future-oriented look at where an industry, profession, or topic is heading and themost important issues for future success. Each author has been selectedbased upon their experience and C-Level standing within the professionalcommunity. Inside the Minds was conceived in order to give readers actualinsights into the leading minds of top lawyers and business executivesworldwide, presenting an unprecedented look at various industries andprofessions.